Mother's Intuition or The Big Group of Doctors???

My baby, my son, will be 11 months old this coming Sunday. I don't know where the time went, it seems I was pregnant yesterday. In his short 11 months, he has done everydamnthing early.

*He was rolling in both directions by 4 months.
**This is also when he started solids and had NO problems with it.
*He was army crawling and sitting up at 5 months.
*Discovered he could use a straw/cup at 6 months.
*He was off his belly and crawling around at 7 months.
**This is when we stopped the purees completely, again with no problems.
*He was pulling up on furniture at 8 months.
*He started walking at 9 months.
*All he does is walk now, rarely crawls, and "jargons" constantly. Knows "Mum-mum," "ba-ba," "breh," and occasionally "dada." Translated: mum-mum, bottle, bread, dada.

We just can't keep this kid from learning. Maybe it's because Beth hit all of her milestones, save for talking, right on the "average" mark, and she's really the only gauge we have to compare him to. Maybe we're just those parents who assume they have the Prodigal Child and naturally, he'll be advanced. I don't know. Either way, the topic of cow's milk has come up.

We didn't start switching Beth until a few days before first birthday. We very much stuck to the AAP's recommendations when we did everything with her for fear of breaking her. Kaiser, our HMO, has a delightful way of scaring the everlovin' CRAP out of you that you will inevitably, by hook or by crook, cause your child to die of SIDS. There's a warning with guidelines on what not to do on the handouts you get at every well-child check-up. There are videos. Classes. Reminders at appointments. When we finally did transition her, we had to go through a two-week-long soy milk phase to get her off the formula because her tummy, and henceforth her lower intestine, didn't appreciate the change. In turn, mommy didn't enjoy the aroma wafting from her Huggies.

But with Bubba, what with all his earliness, we're toying with the idea of starting milk when this big can of formula runs out. Buy a smaller can and a gallon of whole milk, and go slow. It's only a month in advance. He eats so well now and plows through more than 30 ounces of formula in a day. That's a lot! By the time we finish this can, he'll have gone through a 32-oz. can in 10 days. I know there's the whole iron factor, but this kid eats red meat, turkey, canned beans, bread...he gets his iron. He's not overweight; in fact, he was in the 67th percentile for weight and 65th for height at his 10-month check-up.

There is the concern of developing diabetes, but I've not read the studies that show the likelihood of that as a direct result of cow's milk before a child's first birthday. I doubt it's substantial. Anyway, our families have no food allergies, just outdoorsy allergies: dust, mold, trees, grass, pollen.

I want to switch him over. So does my husband. We know he's ready and can handle it. But I'm a chronic rule-follower, I'm nerdy like that, and I haaaaaaaate to bend the rules. Rob wanted to start him on solids at 3 months and at first I agreed. So we bought the cereal...and it sat in the pantry until his four-month birthday because I was too chickenshit to break the rules.

Every child's different, right? So what harm will a few weeks difference do? None...right? I'm such a waffler. I need a Magic 8 Ball.